Waterfowl hunting is not the only serviceprovided by the controlled marsh. In 1974, atechnical dog training area was constructedin the northeast corner of the marsh to bettermeet the needs of another long-term partnerat Chichaqua Bottoms – dog trainers. Th isarea features manmade islands, dikes andpeninsulas designed to provide a high-qualityexperience for both novice and advancedtrainers.Th e controlled marsh also provides habitatfor a variety of wildlife including shorebirds,otters, pheasant, deer and spring migratingwaterfowl, just to name a few.Questions and AnswersQ. I have been paying blind rental fees foryears. Can’t some of this money be used topay for a new well?A. Blind fees, like all revenue generated byPolk County Conservation (e. g. campingfees, shelter rental, etc.) are not retained byour department, but are transferred to a generalfund.Q. Since there are two wells at the marsh,why not just use the other one? Is it stillworking OK?A. Keep in mind that having two wells toserve the marsh is by design. Th at is, a singlewell cannot provide suffi cient water to adequatelyfl ood the entire area for waterfowlhunting. In addition, the well we propose toreplace (west) serves the technical dog trainingmarsh as well. Because of its distance, itwould be diffi cult or impossible to use theeast well to fl ood the training area.Q. Shouldn’t Polk County Conservation paythe cost of this repair? It is their facility andthey are a taxpayer supported entity. Isn’tthat what we pay taxes for?A. Polk County Conservation will providefunding and other resources to drill andfurnish the new well. However, it does nothave the resources to complete the entireproject alone. Like all public agencies, wemust prioritize our spending. We hope thatthe passion our user groups have for theirpastimes will provide impetus to donate forthis worthy cause.Unfortunately, the continued viability of thesepopular hunting activities is in jeopardy. One ofthe 40 year old wells is failing and we need yourhelp to drill and install a new one.Despite a fi ve-year pattern of extremely heavyprecipitation, output for one of the two wells(west) at the controlled marsh has beendeclining. Recent well redevelopment eff ortshave yielded little or no improvement in itsperformance.Polk County Conservation is initiating a fundraisingproject to defray the expense of drillinga new well to replace the west well at the controlledmarsh. We are hoping to raise suffi cientfunds to off set the entire cost of drilling and furnishinga new well (ca. $30,000) and completethis project by July of 2013. If we are not successfulin raising the necessary capital to replacethe well, we plan to use funds to leverage grantdollars. We anticipate that this will, however,delay project completion signifi cantly.